Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/210

* GREAT BRITAIN. 184 GREAT BRITAIN. local taxes, as are the board schools. The same distinction is made in Scothmd as in Kngland and Wales in the support of l>i)ard as against vol- untary schools. The total expenditure for educa- tion increased enornu)Usly in the last decade o£ the nineteenth century, the increase being almost ■wholly on the part of public and national contri- butions as against the voluntary and local. In 1900 the local income for elementary schools in England and Wales from all sources, public hnd private, amounted to £4,3.34,005, and was some- what less than in 1891. while the Parliamentary grant for the year 1900 was £8,234,202, or two and one-half times that of 1891. The receipts of the school boards in Scotland in 1900 amounted to £2,543,873. Universities. Great Britain in proportion to population does not make as ample provisions for university education as is made in most other European countries. There was, however, in the last half of the nineteentli century a remarkal)le increase in the number of imiversities and in their attendance, and the spliere of their influ- ence has been decidedly increased. The new col- leges which have grown up have not been ham- pered with the restrictions which tradition has imposed upon the two old English universities, Oxford and C^imbridge, and greater emphasis has been placed upon science and the adaptation of their courses to the practical demands of the local industrial conditions. The London Uni- versity constituted an examining body in 1S3G (when the original London University, founded in 1826, became University College), and was trans- formed into a teaching body in 1898. comprehend- ing in 1900 twenty-four difierent colleges, with an enrollment of 4789. In 1878 colleges situated at ^Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool, respectively, w-ere federated under the title Victoria Univer- sity. The Durham LTniversity, established in 1832, was extended in 1871, so as to include the colleges of medicine and science at Newcastle- upon-Tyne. Birmingham University was consti- tuted in 1900. All of these were established tlirough the aid of private beneficence, but now receive aid from the Government. In 1900 Ox- ford had 3481 students, and Cambridge in the following year had 2958. The University of Wales, composed of a number of affiliated colleges situated at different points, was established in 1893. The four Scotch universities. Saint An- drews, Glasgow. Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The financial status of the Scotch universities has recently very greatly improved, and since the further extension of the secondary system of education in Scotland the universities are enabled to give more attention to the strictly university work and less to preparatory courses. The necessity of signing the Thirty-nine Ar- ticles in order, to matriculate at Oxford and Cambridge was removed in 1854, as was also, in 1871, the exaction of religious tests as a condition of securing degrees, except for the theological degree. In the last quarter of the nineteenth cen- tury women were admitted to the university ex- aminations in a number of branches at Oxford and Cambridge, and colleges for female students have been established in connection with both in- stitutions. In 1878 Lo7idon University opened all its faculties to the examination of women on perfect equality with men, and the Victoria and Durham universities and those of Scotland and Wales have since followed the example. The effort to extend the advantages and inlluence of the universities gave rise in the latter decades of the nineteenth century to the custom of afford- ing, at various points, courses of lectures and class work, and holding summer meetings, etc., for the benefit of non-resident and non-matricu- lated stiulents. Tliis system is generally known as university extension work. Furthermore, a system of local examinations under administra- tion of the universities has grown up, certificate* being granted to successful candidates. Ch.rities. The history of charitable effort in England is more comprehensive and offers more of interest and value than that of any other country. Like other phases of English historj'. it treats of a continuous growth ; it is in a measure a running commentary upon the changing social life. During the time when the manor was giv- ing way to the parish, yet before the hand of the Cluirch had become overshadowed by that of the State, the performance of the charitable func- tion was largely a matter which concerned the Church, and almsgiving was looked upon as a religious duty. The parish became the most common unit of relief, but the monasteries which were scattered over the country also placed much stress on works of charity, and numerous hos- pitals were established through the instrumen- tality of the hospital orders, which for a time played a conspicuous part. The monasteries and the hospitals received large endowments, gener- ally in land. These constituted a remunerative source of income. There was a lack of coor- dination. The giving was indiscriminate; there was little regard to need or social consequences. When the towns grew up and the guilds became powerful, the changed conditions were reflected in the system of charity relief by the establish- ment of institutions by the municipalities, or by the different guilds for the benefit of their mem- bers. Indeed, the towns had acquired a consider- able experience in dealing with the poor before the State took the problems in liand, and the policy of the State was largely borrowed from the municipalities. The breakdown of the feudal system and the transition from general agricul- ture to sheep-farming had lieen characterized by migrations of the population and increased vagrancy. All this the State vigorously though vainly at- tempted to suppress. It was not until the Refor- matfon that the State began to deal with the general question of pauperism. By the destruc- tion of monasteries the State had incurred the obligation of providing some means of relief in their stead. Moreover, in consequence of the change in religious thought, almsgiving was looked upon less and less as a duty, and the mem- bers of parishes did not contribute so liberally. Ac- cordingly, iluring the reigns of Henry VIU. and Queen Elizabeth a general State policy in dealing with the question was rapidly developed. The process of transformation from Cliurcli to State was a gradual one. The parish continued to be the imit of Church collections, and the State and Church officers cooperated in its admin- istration. Church collections of alms passed into quasi-voluntary contributions, and then, as ad- ditional steps were taken to enforce collection, it became a regularly assessed local poor rate. A compulsory rate was definitely fixed by an act of 1601. This act established the foundation